Top Hooker
By Melissa Camacho,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Fishing competition is family friendly, despite the title.
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What you will—and won't—find in this TV show.
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What's the Story?
TOP HOOKER is a reality competition starring top anglers catching fish for cash and prizes. Hosted by Reno Collier, the series features 10 amateur and professional fishermen and women from all over the world using their skills and various instruments to catch fish during individual and team challenges. The losers of the team challenge must then compete in an elimination test designed to send a contestant home. At the end of the competition, the angler left to hook the winning fish gets to take home a $30,000 grand prize, a new truck, and a big shiny trophy.
Is It Any Good?
It's a fishing show, but Top Hooker features enough fast-paced, quirky, and potentially dangerous stunts -- like requiring folks to catch goldfish with their mouths and scoop up fish while zip lining -- to create a fair amount of action and suspense to attract a wide-range of viewers. Some of the anglers' individual fishing techniques, like using harpoons and their bare hands, also make for some interesting moments.
Despite brief snippets of information offered about the type of fish they are catching, and the methods they are using, you won't find a lot of technical information here. No doubt that fishing enthusiasts will still be drawn to it, but even non-fishing fans may find themselves being reeled into the excitement.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about fishing. What kinds of things do people have to know in order to catch fish? Is fishing a hobby or a sport? Do people who fish for fun and/or competition eat everything they catch? What is the impact of fishing on the ecosystem?
How can a reality show create exciting moments from a slow-paced activity, like fishing? Is it the camera angles? The music? The editing? If a fishing challenge lasts five minutes on TV, how long do you think that challenge really took to complete in real life?
TV Details
- Premiere date: June 2, 2013
- Cast: Reno Collier
- Network: Animal Planet
- Genre: Reality TV
- Topics: Sports and Martial Arts, Wild Animals
- TV rating: TV-PG
- Last updated: February 26, 2023
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